Nov. 16, 2015
Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Photos 
| Russell’s Photos
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
Opening Comments:
“I thought our guys played hard tonight. I thought they did a particularly good job once Gardner-Webb made that run at the start of the second half. Josh Roberson was instrumental for us and we played well from that point forward… We shot the ball well. Our guys are unselfish and it shows up in the looks we get. We make that extra pass. They’re a joy to watch when they play like that. We played with good energy and good effectiveness.”
On Jumping Out to an Early Lead Two Games in a Row:
“It’s about getting consistent stops. We talk a lot about that. When you get consistent stops, you can build separation. We’re physically a little more talented than they are, so we will have a better feel for that on Thursday. We have a Stony Brook team coming in here on Thursday… They have an NBA five-man and a good team and a good coach.”
On Jeff Roberson Playing the Four-Spot:
“That’s where he plays. Jeff played a major role tonight… He can hit it from the perimeter, he can drive, he does a good job from the foul line. Thank God he played well because Luke [Kornet] twisted his ankle and wasn’t able to come back. [Jeff] was active defensively and was guarding their best player. That ended up being a good thing for us… Jeff’s play was a huge difference in the second half.”
On Playing Luke Kornet Versus Jeff Roberson:
“One’s long and one’s faster and quicker. It changes a lot of what we do, but that’s also a good thing because first we show you one thing, then we show you something different. They’re both very different players, but we can also play them together… Jeff’s going to be very key for us this season.”
On Points Off Turnovers:
“We got in the lane and got turnovers. We created some turnovers in out of bounds situations. I’m pleased when I look down and see that we held them to 42% shooting, which is higher than I would have wanted, but we also held them to six offensive rebounds.”
On Play Calling with a Deep Bench:
“In some cases, I’ll try to see where their knowledge base is. In other cases, I’ll keep it in base form.”
On Luke Kornet’s Injury:
“It’s too early to tell. Questionable is what they told me for the game, and I think they stopped short of saying doubtful. There’s quite a bit of swelling. He came down and stepped on someone’s foot.”
SO Forward Jeff Roberson
On sitting out the season opener:
“I knew I was going to sit out a few hours before the game. I was really disappointed but still ready to support the team. I knew after I knew that I wasn’t playing the first game that I would be playing today. It’s hard when you work all that time looking forward to the season opener and you can’t play, but it was great to see my teammates and all of the work paying off, and I was just glad to be able to support them. I certainly didn’t want to come in this game and mess things up, the way they played last game was amazing and I just wanted to help build on that.”
On getting a lot of minutes tonight:
“It was good. I obviously wish that Luke didn’t get hurt, but I mean we have a lot of depth on this team and throughout the season anybody should be ready because you don’t know when your time is coming.”
On being physical:
“I think physicality is something I can bring, because Luke and I kind of contrast. He’s very long, has a lot of length, more finessed. I can come in and bring a different side to it.”
On Damian Jones’ steal and dunk:
“I think it should be Sports Center top 10.”
SO Guard Riley LaChance
On starting the season hot:
“I think it’s important that we start well, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Obviously we just have to maintain that, and try to put together a whole 40 minute game.”
On making sure they play to their level:
“We always talk about playing at our place, and playing hard, playing smart, playing together. I think it’s important that we keep on defense no matter what the score is, and step up to play.”
On the unselfishness of the team:
“That’s something we do really well. We share the ball. We all really love playing with each other, and that’s something we harp on a lot in practice, making the extra pass. Everyone on the team does a great job of that. It makes it easier to get some good offensive looks.”
On the freshmen:
“It’s pretty cool. They’ve put in a lot of time in the offseason, and they really dedicated themselves. It’s good to see them getting minutes early and play well too.”
Gardner Webb Head Coach Tim Craft
On the game:
“How much of an impact getting behind that quick do you think it made? I definitely didn’t think it helped. Some of our guys looked like deer in the head lights out there. Really when we went to the bench. Our starting group was okay, it was 10-5 and they were getting decent looks I thought, but then when we went to the bench some of those guys came in a little glazed over. And we’re playing seven guys who had never really played college division one basketball. That’s to be expected. And Vanderbilt is good, they’re really good and I thought they were good on film. One of the better teams we’ve played since I’ve been here, in my two years.”
Going to zone defense late in the first half:
“It’s really dangerous, it really is. Were obviously struggling to score there for awhile and we were trying to keep Tyrell Nelson in the game. He was having some success inside. He had two fouls and we were trying to see if we could keep him in and keep him from getting his third. It’s scary to go zone against a team that shoots it that well but we were trying to find a way to keep one of our better players in.”
If VU’s points off turnovers were a product of good defense or poor GWU decisions:
“I think it was both. We had some poor decisions but I think their pressure was a little more than we were used to. And we play with a little bit defensively against ourselves and Vanderbilt is out in the passing lanes a little bit more than us. That impacted us for sure, it really did, and you noticed at times our guys are out there just kind of dribbling around and with no one to throw it to so we could even get into our offense. That affected us for sure, it affected our flow and they certainly created some turnovers in that way. But I certainly did think that their defense led to some of that for sure.”
On what experience his team got out of the competition:
“Well, I think we got a lot out of it. I think we will be able to go to the film and say look, when you play good people and you don’t follow your game plan and you have breakdowns, good teams are going to make you pay. And then you turn a ball over nineteen times. It’s hard to beat good teams. And for stretches we played okay. We got down twenty-one to five and then we were really even for the rest of the half, maybe for the last twelve minutes. I think we went into the half seventeen down. We played them even there for the end and then we came in after the half and cut it to eleven. So, I think there are some positive things there. And we had a couple of kids that really struggled in the first half and then they came back in the second half and they were a little more aggressive and comfortable. We will certainly take things away from it.”
